Fan-favorite writer Joshua Williamson ramps up the action, intrigue and surprises this April as “Shadow War” continues in the pages of Deathstroke Inc., Batman, and Robin!



Part Two of “Shadow War” continues April 5, 2022, in Batman #122, with Howard Porter providing the art and main cover.

Ra’s al Ghul is dead, and Talia is out for revenge! Batman is on the case, in a race against time to find Deathstroke before Talia’s elite assassins do! But as the World’s Greatest Detective starts piecing together clues, he realizes that not all is what it seems when it comes to the death of “The Demon’s Head,” and the questions lead back to Talia herself! What added strain will this place on the relationship of these two former lovers? In the backup story, artist Trevor Hairsine joins Williamson revealing for the first time the secret first fight between Batman and Deathstroke!

Batman #122 also features a main variant cover by Gabriele Dell’Otto, a linking 1:25 ratio variant cover by Roger Cruz and Victor Olazaba, and a 1:50 ratio variant cover by JOCK.



Artist Paolo Pantalena joins Williamson as artist for Part 3 of this exciting event on April 26 in issue eight of Deathstroke Inc! Following the death of Ra’s al Ghul, Deathstroke Inc. has been destroyed, his villain associates have been killed by the Demon’s Shadow, and Slade and Respawn are on the run! If they can survive this deadly gauntlet of skilled and bloodthirsty assassins, maybe Deathstroke will be able to explain to Batman why he killed Ra’s!

Deathstroke Inc.#8 features a main cover by Jonboy Meyers, a variant cover by Chris Burnham, plus the second of three linking 1:25 ratio variant covers by Roger Cruz and Victor Olazaba.



Williamson, and artists Roger Cruz and Norm Rapmund, close out the April action in Part Four of Shadow War, also on sale April 26. Robin and Ravager finally catch up with Deathstroke and Respawn, but will they convince Slade to turn himself in, or does this become a fight to the death? And what startling revelation does Robin learns that is sure to rock Shadow War to its very foundation? Plus, Batman goes deeper into the conspiracy behind Ra’s al Ghul’s death and discovers that it’s bigger than he thought. He’s calling in backup, just not the backup that readers will expect!

Roger Cruz provides the main cover, with Crystal Kung providing the variant cover for this issue, with Cruz and Victor Olazaba also providing art for the 1:25 ratio variant that completes the three linked images.

Alicia Hannah-Kim, Dallas Dupree Young

Cobra Kai has cast Alicia Hannah-Kim for Season 5 of the hit Netflix series as the formidable South Korean sensei Kim Da-Eun who factors into Terry Silver’s (Thomas Ian Griffith) plans for accelerating Cobra Kai’s expansion. Dallas Dupree Young, who joined the show last season as Kenny Payne, has been upgraded to a series regular.

Working with Silver can only mean one thing: Kim is fighting for the dark side. After getting John Kreese (Martin Kove) out of the way and rigging the results of the All Valley Tournament in Season 4, Silver will stop at nothing to win.

Miyagi-Do dojo may be out for the count but Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) has enlisted the help of his former nemesis Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) to take down Silver and bring back civility and safety to the kids of the Valley. As the OG Karate Kid, there’s no doubt he will give Silver a run for his money.

Season 5 premieres globally on September 9. Seasons 1-4 are currently available to stream via Netflix.

Cobra Kai is written and executive produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg via their production company, Counterbalance Entertainment. Will Smith, James Lassiter, and Caleeb Pinkett executive produce for Westbrook Entertainment along with Susan Ekins in association with Sony Pictures Television. Macchio and William Zabka also serve as executive producers. (via Deadline)

Saban Films has acquired U.S. rights to the Mel Gibson thriller On The Line, in which the Oscar winner portrays a radio host confronted by a hostile caller, Deadline reports.

In the film, the anonymous caller threatens to kill the host’s entire family while he is on air. To save loved ones, the radio host has to play a survival game over the course of one night and the only way to win is to find out the identity of the criminal.

It is film director-writer-producer Romuald Boulanger’s second feature following his 2020 debut Connectés.

On The Line also stars Kevin Dillon (Entourage), Enrique Arce (Terminator: Dark Fate), William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe), and Nadia Farès (Luther). The film is currently in post-production, with Saban Films planning a November 2022 release.

Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” and Kid Cudi’s “Entergalactic” are among the titles that will be teased at Netflix’s inaugural Annecy International Animation Film Festival showcase next month, Variety reports.

The streamer is also bringing masterclasses and the world premiere of Chris Williams’ sea monster adventure “The Sea Beast,” starring Karl Urban and Dan Stevens, to the festival, which takes place in France.

Netflix’s showcase will offer an exclusive first look at del Toro’s upcoming stop-motion adaptation of “Pinocchio,” with the filmmaker attending in person to discuss the project, as well as the first look at “Entergalactic,” the adult animated project from Kid Cudi (AKA Scott Mescudi) and Kenya Barris, which is based on Cudi’s album of the same name.

The showcase will also include a behind-the-scenes look at David Fincher’s “Bad Travelling,” which will be included in vol. 3 of Tim Miller’s series “Love, Death + Robots” as well as glimpses of “The Sea Beast,” Henry Sellick’s “Wendell & Wild,” “My Father’s Dragon,” “The Magician’s Elephant,” Hiroyasu Ishida’s “Drifting Home,” “Nimona,” “Spirit Rangers” and Everett Downing and Patrick Harpin’s “My Dad The Bounty Hunter.”

Netflix also has a number of projects screening as part of the festival’s competition: “Arcane,” “The Cuphead Show!,” “The House,” “Human Resources,” “Robin Robin” and “We the People” are all Official Selections.

AMC has released a new teaser for its upcoming Interview With the Vampire series.

The new teaser was shared to the series' official Twitter account.

Interview With the Vampire is expected to debut on AMC and AMC+ this fall and stars Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt and Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac from the novel by Anne Rice of the same name.

Teaser: https://twitter.com/i/status/1528915644208537600

Author Neil Gaiman has responded to the backlash surrounding the casting of Lucifer Morningstar in Netflix's adaptation of his graphic novel series, The Sandman, and revealed why it was never in the cards to bring back Tom Ellis.

After a fan on Twitter quizzed Gaiman as to why the Ellis hadn't been brought back to reprise his role, writing: "And you couldn't have asked Tom Ellis why?" the creator explained all.

In response, he wrote: "Because his Lucifer, while inspired by the Lucifer in Sandman, is so far away in terms of Sandman continuity by the end of Lucifer, that it's easier on everyone to go back to the version in the [DC] comic.

"And this way, you don't know what our Lucifer is going to do," he added before concluding his post by stressing that there was no love lost between him and the Brit actor. "Tom's is lovable."

Gaiman's reply should put to bed the debate over Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie's casting as Lucifer in the upcoming Sandman adaptation, which has been raging on ever since the actress was first announced back in October 2021.

She will make her debut on the series alongside stars Tom Sturridge, Jenna Coleman and David Thewlis when the show makes its debut on Netflix later this year. (via Hello Magazine)

Bruce Wayne is going to come to blows with his son, Damian Wayne, in a new limited series this fall.

Batman vs. Robin is a five-issue series from writer Mark Waid, artist Mahmud Asrar, and colorist Nathan Fairbairn debuting in September. The event spins out of Waid's current run on Batman/Superman: World's Finest with artist Dan Mora, while also tying into the concluding "Shadow War" crossover between Joshua Williamson's Batman, Robin, and Deathstroke series. Each part of Batman vs. Robin features five oversized issues, and also involves the Devil Nezha from World's Finest.

"What I can say is that the first arc of World's Finest is, was, and always has been, designed deliberately to lead into what is going to be Batman vs. Robin," Waid teased. "What I was trying to do with Batman versus Robin was try to take them into a realm that I'm not used to seeing them in, which is dark magic sorcery, rather than science, rather than logic and detective stuff. We've seen Batman and sort of peripheral magic, but I want to get into the down and dirty of it."

Mahmud Asrar is a former Marvel Young Guns artist – now known as Marvel Stormbreakers – who is making his return to DC after nine years at Marvel. Waid and Asrar collaborated on 2015-2016's All-New, All-Different Avengers. (via ComicBook.com)

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” actor Celeste O’Connor has been cast in “Madame Web,” an upcoming installment in Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters.

O’Connor’s role has not been announced. They will appear in the comic book adventure alongside Dakota Johnson, who is playing the title character, as well as Sydney Sweeney of “Euphoria” fame.

The movie will serve as an origin story for Madame Web, a clairvoyant whose psychic abilities allow her to see within the spider world itself. In the Marvel comics, Madame Web is a paralyzed, elderly woman with myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune disorder requiring her to connect to a life support system resembling a spider web. Her supernatural abilities prove to be greatly beneficial to Spider-Man and his fellow arachnid allies, like Spider-Woman. Given her condition, though, she’s never battled villains herself.

“Madame Web” is Sony’s first modern comic book adaptation to feature a woman in the headlining role. It is one of several Spider-Man-related spinoffs in Sony’s pipeline, including “Kraven the Hunter,” featuring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ariana DeBose. (via Variety)

Mutantkind is set to send shockwaves through the Marvel Universe yet again in this year’s HELLFIRE GALA! A night overflowing with heavy drama, surprise guests, and game-changing revelations, the event will take place in July’s X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA #1, a giant-sized one-shot will be written by current X-Men writer Gerry Duggan along with an all-star lineup of artists: Kris Anka, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli and C.F. Villa. A Marvel Comic of such magnitude wouldn’t be complete without an incredible variant cover from artist Stanley “Artgerm” Lau! The mega-popular cover artist depicts Jean Grey in her now iconic Hellfire Gala outfit from last year, ready to announce the new team of X-Men!

At last year's gala, mutants changed the face of the solar system, terraforming Mars and claiming it for mutantkind. Don’t dare miss this issue to see what comes next! Check out the cover below and stay tuned for more news about X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA #1, including an exciting sneak peek!

Fire up the jets.

After two years of being grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, Top Gun: Maverick is finally flying into theaters over Memorial Day weekend following a headline-grabbing, global marketing blitz that saw a tireless Tom Cruise transform into the showman of the moment as he made stops at a world premiere in San Diego, the Cannes Film Festival, a Royal-sponsored screening in London and another premiere in Japan.

The release of the long-awaited sequel to the iconic 1986 movie is poised to be a defining moment for the box office recovery, which so far has been largely fueled by superhero fare.

Top Gun 2 is easily headed for the biggest opening of Tom Cruise’s career at the domestic box office, with a four-day gross of at least $92 million, according to official tracking. And that’s a conservative estimate. Many pundits believe the critically acclaimed sequel could soar well north of $100 million domestically, but tracking — one of Hollywood’s favorite pastimes — has become fraught in the pandemic era. Exhibitors are especially bullish on the pic, and are even thinking $125 million-plus.

Part of the problem in this instance: there’s no way of knowing whether older consumers will set aside their caution and rush out to see the $170 million-plus movie on the first weekend. And while Top Gun 2 certainly hopes to play to younger audiences, it is nevertheless a follow-up to a 36-year-old property. (via THR)

Samuel L. Jackson is set to join Chris Pratt in Alcon Entertainment’s upcoming animated theatrical motion picture based on the iconic comic strip Garfield, THR reports.

Jackson will play a brand-new character, Garfield’s father, Vic. The veteran Hollywood actor is best known for movie hits like Jurassic Park, the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Goodfellas, Coming to America, Menace II Society and Pulp Fiction.

Pratt was earlier announced to voice the lasagna-loving, Monday-hating comic strip feline Garfield in the new animated movie based on a script written by David Reynolds and directed by Mark Dindal. Sony Pictures is distributing globally (excluding China).

Created by cartoonist Jim Davis, the Garfield comic strip debuted in June 1978 and follows the cynical and lazy orange cat and his interactions with his owner, Jon Arbuckle, and fellow pet Odie, the lovable dog.